Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp, expressed his concerns about the declining global spending on healthcare by governments and companies.
What Happened: In an interview with Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates voiced his concerns over the current state of healthcare funding. “I’m a little worried,” Gates said.
“The world’s dealing with a lot of challenges right now, and the fact that we still have 5 million children dying before the age of five — it isn’t as visual, it’s not like a plane crashing or a bomb hitting a building — and yet, these deaths one by one add up to that 5 million,” he said.
Despite the declining trend in global healthcare spending, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced its largest annual budget to date, amounting to $8.6 billion for 2024. This budget represents a 4% increase over the previous year and a substantial $2 billion rise from the 2021 spending. The foundation also reiterated its commitment to further raise its annual spending to $9 billion by 2026.
The Gates Foundation’s primary focus is on reducing healthcare disparities worldwide by funding the development of new tools and strategies to combat infectious diseases and the primary causes of child mortality in low-income countries. According to the foundation’s research, child deaths have decreased from over 9.3 million annually in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2022. Malaria and HIV deaths have been halved over the past two decades, and wild polio cases have been reduced to just 12 in two countries.
Why It Matters: This is not the first time that Gates has spoken out about healthcare issues. In 2024, the Gates Foundation invested $5 million in Starpax Biopharma Inc., a biopharmaceutical research and development company, to fight cancer using a revolutionary platform technology. This investment was part of the foundation’s ongoing efforts to address global health challenges and underscores Gates’ commitment to advancing healthcare solutions.
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